PLANT BREEDING NEWS
EDITION 180
2 July 2007
An Electronic Newsletter of Applied Plant Breeding
Sponsored by FAO and Cornell University
Clair H. Hershey, Editor
chh23@cornell.edu
Archived issues available at: FAO Plant Breeding
Newsletter
CONTENTS
1. NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESEARCH NOTES
1.01 Economists draw urgent attention to Africa’s looming rice
crisis
1.02 Alliance for a Green Revolution
in Africa appoints former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as Chairman of the Board
1.03 Indonesia turns to hybrid varieties
for self-sufficiency in rice production
1.04 Cheap, green, food-friendly biofuel
produced in India
1.05 Joint Genome Institute of the
U.S. Department of Energy announces 2008 genome sequencing targets
1.06 The Centre for Plant Integrative Biology (CPIB) opens in July at The University of Nottingham
1.07 Maize as you like
it – sweet, green, or as baby corn
1.08 Africa must create its own biotechnology
agenda
1.09 Third generation GM crops: an opportunity for Africa
1.10 Agri-biotech in
Africa: Safety first?
1.11 New study finds genetically engineered crops could play a
role in sustainable agriculture
1.12 GM/GMO/Biotech crop containment strategy
1.13 Genes explain
the amazing global spread of maize
1.14 Pollen and pollinators are vital
for conservation
1.15 Pepper diversity on display
1.16 Scientists discover a gene that allows
plants to grow better in low nutrient conditions
1.17 Sowing seed on salty ground
1.18 The CNAP Artemisia
Research Project: how to subscribe to updates
1.19 International joint venture research project produces
experimental wheat variety with 70 per cent amylose content
1.20 RNAi-mediated
resistance to Bean golden mosaic virus in genetically engineered common bean
1.21 Researchers demonstrate
way to control tree height
1.22 Discovery of what makes some cauliflower
orange could lead to more nutritious staple crops
1.23 Bt tomato with CRY6A
found to be resistant to root-knot nematodes
1.24 Rice with human proteins to take
root in Kansas
1.25 Plants recognize their siblings, biologists discover
1.26 Long-sought plant
flowering signal unmasked, again
1.27 Finding genes faster
1.28 Modified mushrooms may yield human
drugs
1.29 Update 5-2007 of FAO-BiotechNews
2. PUBLICATIONS
2.01 Proceedings of the Gamma Field Symposia of the Institute
of Radiation Breeding are available online
2.02 Marker-assisted selection: Current
status and future perspectives in crops, livestock, forestry and fish
2.03 EMBRAPA publishes
book on plant genetic resources (IN PORTUGUESE)
3. WEB RESOURCES
3.01 USDA/ERS Data set: Plant Breeding Research and Development
3.02 New online resource fromSciDev.Net:
agri-biotech in sub-Saharan Africa
4 REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION
4.01 Request for assistance in diallel
analysis
5 POSITION ANNOUNCEMENTS
5.01 Postdoc Scientist at The Univ. of
California in Salinas: Verticillium wilt resistance in lettuce
5.02 Plant Breeder positions available
at the African Centre for Crop Improvement
6 MEETINGS, COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
7 EDITOR'S NOTES
=========================
1. NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESEARCH NOTES
1.01 Economists draw urgent attention to Africa’s looming rice crisis
Cotonou, Benin
Participants of the Third Annual Meeting of the Africa Policy Research and Advocacy
Group at the Africa Rice Center (WARDA), 25-27 June, in
Cotonou, Benin, expressed deep concern about the current world rice situation
and its implications for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
World rice reserves, estimated at 80.6 million tonnes in 2005-06, are at the lowest
level since 1983-84. These stocks represent less than 2 months of consumption
and half of the stocks are being held by China. World rice consumption continues
to outstrip rice production and rice prices are rising and are expected to double
in the next couple of years.
According to the Director General of the Africa Rice Center (WARDA) Dr Papa Abdoulaye
Seck, the current world rice situation has serious implications, particularly
for SSA, because about 40% of the region’s demand for rice is being met by imports.
With only 13% of world population, Africa accounts for 32% of world rice imports,
which makes it a big player in the international rice trade. In 2006, SSA imported
more than 9 million tonnes of rice worth an estimated US$ 2 billion.
Explaining that only 7% of the total world rice production is traded, WARDA Economist
Dr Aliou Diagne said that this supply was too limited for SSA to rely on for its
growing rice demand. “SSA should urgently reconsider its rice import policy to
avoid the looming crisis.”
“African national rice economies will increasingly become exposed to unpredictable
external supply and price shocks,” Dr Diagne remarked, referring to the recent
warning by the World Bank that the current rise in prices of cereals and the low
level of global reserves could unleash widespread food riots in Africa. The prices
of rice have already gone up in Thailand and Vietnam, the traditional rice exporters
to Africa.
Africa has an immense untapped potential for rice production. According to the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the paddy (unhulled
rice) production in Africa has gone up for the sixth consecutive year, reaching
21.6 million tonnes in 2006.
But with rice consumption in West Africa – the rice belt of Africa – doubling
every 9 years, the challenge of keeping up with it is immense.
Call for urgent government support to African rice farmers
The workshop participants emphasized that the African governments should give
adequate support to small farmers who form the majority of rice producers in SSA.
Smallholder rice farmers in the region have been facing unfair competition from
subsidized rice imports.
Pascal Gbenou from the Network of Farmers’ and Agricultural Producers’ Organizations
of West Africa (ROPPA) said that rice continues to be one of the most protected
commodities in every country except in West Africa.
Mr Gbenou urged the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) to adopt
a higher level of the common import tariff (TEC) for agricultural products, because
the current TEC level applied by UEMOA has a detrimental effect on the sub-region’s
agricultural sector in general and on rice in particular.
In his response, Mr Kolado Bocoum from UEMOA stated that UEMOA was revisiting
the TEC issue and that UEMOA’s agricultural policies would greatly benefit from
inputs from specialized structures like WARDA.
Value of right policies to boost Africa’s rice sector
“Right policies are indeed essential to make African rice sector competitive,”
said Dr Akande Oyetunji, Director General of the Nigerian Institute of Social
and Economic Research (NISER).
“We are witnessing how the recent rice policies adopted by Nigeria as part of
the Presidential Rice Initiative have boosted the country’s rice sector,” Dr Oyetunji
said. Nigeria’s rice production was nearly 4 million tonnes in 2006, 10% above
the 2005 level.
Moreover, Nigeria was able to reduce its rice imports in 2005 by over 800,000
tonnes, thanks to the strong measures taken by the government to increase domestic
rice production and decrease rice imports.
Opportunity for Africa
WARDA economists think that the availability of cheap imported rice has until
now provided a ready excuse for many SSA governments to neglect the domestic rice
production.
“In that sense, the rise in world rice prices is a golden opportunity for SSA,
because this increases the competitiveness of the local rice sector,” stated Dr
Diagne, explaining that this was one of the main issues discussed at the meeting
by the Africa Policy Research and Advocacy Group.
The Group, which was established 3 years ago, serves as a channel for transmitting
policies to promote the rice sector in West Africa and its goal is to improve
the impact of policy research and institutional arrangements on the competitiveness
of the rice sector in the region.
Highlighting the importance of this meeting, WARDA Assistant Director of Research
Dr Shellemiah Keya said that the recommendations from the meeting would serve
as valuable inputs for advocacy at the forthcoming session of the Council of Ministers
of WARDA member countries scheduled for September 2007.
In addition to WARDA economists, the meeting was attended by experts in rice economics
and policy from Nigeria, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali as well as representatives
from the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), Oxfam and farmers’
organizations.
Source: SeedQuest.com
28 June 2007
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1.02 Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa appoints
former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as Chairman of the Board
Cape Town, South Africa
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in
Africa today announced the appointment of former UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan as its first chairman.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum on Africa meeting in Cape Town, where he
was due to deliver a keynote address on African agriculture, Mr. Annan said he
was deeply honoured to be taking up the position and hoped to use it to help drive
forward progress on an issue critical to wider African development.
“I am honoured today to take up this important post and join with my fellow Africans
in a new effort to comprehensively tackle the challenges holding back hundreds
of millions of small-scale farmers in Africa,” Annan said. “Africa is the only
region where overall food security and livelihoods are deteriorating. We will
reverse this trend by working to create an environmentally sustainable, uniquely
African Green Revolution. When our poorest farmers finally prosper, all of Africa
will benefit.”
The Alliance for the Green Revolution in Africa, which was established last year
with an initial US$150 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
and the Rockefeller Foundation, seeks to
help millions of small-scale farmers and their families across Africa to lift
themselves and their families out of poverty and hunger through sustainable increases
in farm productivity and incomes. It is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, and will
be working throughout the continent on a wide range of interventions across the
agricultural “value chain,” ranging from strengthening local and regional agricultural
markets, to helping improve irrigation, soil health and training for farmers,
to supporting the development of new seed systems better equipped to cope with
the harsh African climate.
The Alliance is a response to recent calls by African leaders to chart a new path
for prosperity by spurring the continent’s agricultural development and also seeks
to help reverse decades of relative neglect in funding for agricultural development
for Africa. It strongly endorses the vision laid out in the African Union’s Comprehensive
Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which seeks a 6 percent annual
growth in food production by 2015.
Dr. Monty Jones, head of Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, a leading
African agricultural research organisation, and a board member of AGRA, warmly
welcomed the appointment. “With Kofi Annan as our new chairman the Alliance for
a Green Revolution in Africa will be much better placed to build broader political
and economic support behind our vision of pro-poor, pro-environment partnerships
needed to revitalise agriculture for Africa’s small-scale farmers, and replace
widespread poverty with prosperity,” he said.
A New, Sustainable, Uniquely African Green Revolution
According to Dr. Akin Adesina, vice president of Policy and Partnership at
AGRA, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa is inspired by the successes
of the original Green Revolution that dramatically boosted agricultural productivity
in Asia and Latin America but also seeks to learn lessons from some of its weaknesses.
“The first Green Revolution more than doubled cereal production and saved the
lives of hundreds of millions of people,” said Dr. Adesina. “However, that experience
also highlighted the critical importance of ensuring that small farmers are the
primary beneficiaries of our efforts and consumer and environmental health considerations
are made part and parcel of agricultural development process.”
Annan’s new position with the Alliance comes six months after his departure from
the UN, where he served to two five-year terms as Secretary-General. During his
tenure at the UN, Annan often drew attention to the link between Africa’s failing
agriculture systems and its persistent hunger and poverty. Keenly aware that most
of Africa’s poor, particularly its poor women, depend on farming for food and
income, in 2004 Annan called for a “new uniquely African Green Revolutiona
revolution that is long overdue, a revolution that will help the continent in
its quest for dignity and peace.”
“We welcome Kofi Annan as chairman of the board,” said Judith Rodin, president
of the Rockefeller Foundation. “Kofi Annan keenly understands that meeting the
biggest challenges facing our world today requires broad and inclusive coalitions.
His leadership in coalition building is widely admired.”
In the past 15 years the number of Africans living below the poverty line ($1/day)
has increased by 50 percent and per capita food production has declined. In the
past five years alone, the number of underweight children in Africa has risen
by about 12 percent.
A root cause of this entrenched and deepening poverty is the fact that millions
of small-scale farmersthe majority of them women working farms smaller than
one hectarecannot grow enough food to sustain their families, their communities,
or their countries.
“Kofi Annan brings not only a great breadth of experience and insight into the
challenges facing African agriculture, but also the will and skill to help lead
a wide range of partners to address those challenges,” said Bill Gates, co-chair
of the Gates Foundation.
As Chairman of the Board of the Alliance, Annan plans to travel regularly throughout
Africa to meet with African farmers, entrepreneurs, scientists and political leaders
to discuss and promote the work of the Alliance. He will articulate the Alliance’s
goal to dramatically boost farm productivity and incomes while at the same time
safeguarding the environment and advancing equity.
“Kofi Annan’s vision and leadership will be a tremendous asset for the Alliance
as it seeks to advance its vision of helping farmers and their families across
Africa live healthier, more productive lives,” said Melinda Gates, co-chair of
the Gates Foundation.
Working through Partners across the Agricultural “Value Chain”
Today, with Annan as its chair, the Alliance is led by a board of prominent
African leaders, and is establishing offices in Nairobi and Accra. The Alliance
is also rapidly establishing partnerships with organizations and institutions
throughout Africa. It has made more than 10 initial grants, establishing partnerships
with several Ministries of Agriculture, as well as prominent African plant breeders,
soil health experts, and leaders of agriculture extension programs.
The Alliance is committed to building on this foundation and developing an inclusive
partnership of small farmers, scientists, national governments, foundations and
other donors, civil society groups, and private sector entrepreneurs. It is already
working with African crop scientists and small-scale farmers to use conventional
breeding techniques to develop more productive and resilient varieties of Africa’s
major food crops, as well as the means to distribute them. It’s also supporting
programmes that will increase the number of African agricultural scientists and
programmes to monitor and evaluate its work. It will soon launch an initiative
to improve the health of Africa’s soils, which are the most depleted in the world.
Over the next two years, the Alliance will develop new partnerships focused on
improving water management on often parched farmlands; building more efficient
agricultural markets through better information, storage and transportation; and
encouraging policy reforms that support small-scale farmers and promote rural
development, environmental sustainability, and trading systems that favour poor
farmers.
The African-led Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is a dynamic
partnership working across the continent to help millions of small-scale farmers
and their families lift themselves out of poverty and hunger. Alliance programs
develop practical solutions to dramatically boost farm productivity and incomes
while safeguarding the environment and biodiversity. To achieve this goal, Alliance
partnerships address all key aspects of African agriculture: from seeds, soil
health and water to markets, agricultural education and policy.
Source: SeedQuest.com
14 June 2007
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1.03 Indonesia turns to hybrid varieties
for self-sufficiency in rice production
“Indonesia should be able to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production in
the next year.” This was stated by Jusuf Kalla, Vice President of Indonesia, after
signing last week in China a collaboration agreement between PT. Penta Prima Pusaka,
Sichuan Guohao Seed Industry, Indonesia, and the Rice Research Institute of Department
of Agriculture, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, to build an Integrated Hybrid Centre
in Indonesia. The Centre will count with the technical support of Chinese experts,
and is expected to produce the qualified rice seed required by farmers in 2008.
“Hybrid seed varieties such as Bernas and Bernas Rokan will meet the target of
increasing rice production by 2 million tons in 2007, and by 5% a year in the
following years”, said Anton Apriyantono, Indonesian Minister of Agriculture.
According to trial experiments, production could reach 10 tons of rice per hectare.
In a related development, Apriyantono announced the release of 14 superior hybrid
rice seed varieties this year, with improved yields and higher tolerance to abiotic
stresses. The new varieties are the result of a two-year collaboration between
the Rice Research Institute of Thailand and the government of Indonesia.
For more information visit:
http://www.kompas.co.id/kompas-cetak/0706/11/ekonomi/3591333.htm
and http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/ekbis/2007/06/12/brk,20070612-101820,id.html
, or contact the Indonesian Biotechnology Information Center (INDOBIC) at indobic@biotrop.org
Source: CropBiotech Update via SeedQuest.com
15 June 2007
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1.04 Cheap, green, food-friendly biofuel
produced in India
T. V. Padma
[NEW DELHI] The first commercial batch of biofuel from the stalks of a new sweet
sorghum hybrid has been produced this month (13 June) at a distillery in the state
of Andhra Pradesh in India.
Ethanol is produced from the sweet juice in the stalk of the sweet sorghum. The
researchers responsible for the hybrid say by using sorghum, resource-poor farmers
will still be able to use the sorghum grain and protect food security, while earning
an additional income from selling the stalks.
This first batch marks a major success for the research consortium that developed
the new hybrid, says Belum V. S. Reddy, principal sorghum breeder at the India-based
International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).
Sweet sorghum is a cheap biofuel crop to grow, costing about a fifth of that of
sugarcane. It also requires half the water needed to grow maize and about an eighth
of that required for sugarcane.
It is also carbon neutral, according to the Latin American Thematic Network on
Bioenergy a project promoting the sustainable use of bioenergy. Sweet sorghum
takes in the same of amount of carbon dioxide during its growth that it emits
during growth and its later conversion to ethanol and the eventual ethanol combustion.
When sweet sorghum biofuel is blended with petrol it also emits less polluting
sulphur and nitrous oxide compared to sugarcane biofuel, according to Reddy.
A major problem for ICRISAT was ensuring availability of sweet sorghum stalks
throughout the year. "Different plant types produce different amounts of juice
at different times of the year and it is important to have genetic stocks that
can produce the same amount of juice throughout the year," says Reddy.
ICRISAT solved the problem by developing hybrids that can be planted at any time
of the year.
The team intend to plant at least 4000 acres of the new crop during the next rainy
season, according to G. Subba Rao, director of Aakrithi Agricultural Associates
of India, a partner in the project.
Clusters of villages have been identified for the planting, and seeds distributed
to the farmers. A method has also been designed to collect the stalks from the
farmers, which will then be crushed at cluster centres and the syrup transported
to the main distillery.
Source: SciDev.net
19 June 2007
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1.05 Joint Genome Institute of the U.S. Department of Energy
announces 2008 genome sequencing targets
Walnut Creek, California
Toward the goal of harnessing the power of nature through DNA sequencing, the
DOE Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) has
announced the latest Community Sequencing Program (CSP) portfolio. These plant
and microbial targets--most with implications for helping wean the nation's dependence
on fossil fuel--total some 21 billion nucleotides of DNA sequence capacity allocated
to public projects submitted through the CSP for fiscal year 2008.
"This year's selections are completely aligned with the CSP mission, that is,
selecting DOE-relevant organisms with the large and diverse communities of investigators,"
said Jim Bristow, DOE JGI Deputy Director and manager of the CSP. "The response
to this year's program, with over 120 submissions, demonstrations an increasing
desire to fuel discovery with DNA sequence information--which DOE JGI makes freely
available through its web portals and the public databases."
Among the highest profile of these projects, and largest, with a 600-million-nucleotide
genome, is the eucalyptus tree genome--geared to the generation of resources
for renewable energy--led by Alexander Myburg of the University of Pretoria, South Africa, with Gerald
Tuskan of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (and
DOE JGI), and Dario Grattapaglia, of EMBRAPA Genetic Resources and Biotechnology
(Brazil).
"The biomass production and carbon sequestration capacities of eucalyptus trees
match DOE's and the nation's interests in alternative energy production and global
carbon cycling," said Bristow. "The consortium of eucalyptus draws upon the expertise
from dozens of institutions and hundreds of researchers worldwide."
"A major challenge for the achievement of a sustainable energy future is our understanding
of the molecular basis of superior growth and adaptation in woody plants suitable
for biomass production," said CSP project proposer Myburg. Eucalyptus species
are among the fastest growing woody plants in the world and, at approximately
18 million hectares in 90 countries, the most widely planted genus of plantation
forest trees in the world. Eucalyptus is also listed as one of the U.S. Department
of Energy's candidate biomass energy crops.
"Genome sequencing is essential for understanding the basis of eucalyptus's superior
properties and to compare and contrast them with other species," said Myburg.
"The unique evolutionary history, keystone ecological status, and adaptation to
marginal sites make eucalyptus an excellent focus for expanding our knowledge
of the evolution and adaptive biology of perennial plants." The eucalyptus genome,
the second tree to be sequenced, will also provide extraordinary opportunities
for comparative genomic analysis with the poplar, the first tree sequenced, published
in the journal Science by DOE JGI and collaborators in 2006.
The second largest CSP project selected for 2008 is foxtail millet (Setaria
italica), led by researchers at the University of Georgia, the University
of Florida, the University of Missouri, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural
Research Service - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and the University of Tennessee.
Foxtail millet, a forage crop, is a close relative of several prospective biofuel
crops, including switchgrass, napiergrass, and pearl millet. In the U.S., pearl
millet is grown on some 1.5 million acres. It is envisioned that pearl millet
would be useful as a supplement or replacement for corn in ethanol plants in regions
that suffer from drought and low-fertility soils.
The third largest genome project to be taken on by DOE JGI in 2008 is the marine
red alga Porphyra purpurea. The ocean plays a key role in removing carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere with the help of marine photosynthetic organisms like
Porphyra consuming the carbon and releasing oxygen. Porphyra species are among
the most common algae in the intertidal and subtidal zones of temperate rocky
shores in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Understanding the effects
of elevated climatic stresses on photosynthetic organisms would benefit from genome-enabled
studies of carbon fixation in Porphyra, because of this organism's great diversity
of light-harvesting and photo-protective strategies.
The CSP will pursue eight smaller eukaryotic projects in 2008, using both traditional
Sanger sequencing and next-generation pyrosequencing technology. These projects
include the following:
Paxillus involutus: Over 75 percent of the carbon in terrestrial ecosystems is
stored in forests. More than half of this carbon is found in soil organic matter
(SOM). Recent studies have indicated that ectomycorrhizal fungi like Paxillus
provide the dominant pathway through which carbon enters the SOM. These fungi
are also known to protect plants from toxic metals. Thus, the development of metal-tolerant
fungal associations would provide a strategy for active remediation of metal-contaminated
soils.
Two species of Phaeocystis phytoplankton: The Phaeocystis genus contributes approximately
10 percent of annual global marine primary photosynthetic production, equivalent
to four billion metric tons of carbon dioxide captured or "fixed" annually--reinforcing
its importance for the study of the global carbon cycle and carbon sequestration.
The leaf-degrading fungus Agaricus bisporus: Genomic studies of A. bisporus target
enhanced understanding of the mechanisms employed for efficient conversion of
lignocellulose--crucial for the production of fuels and products from renewable
biomass.
The first ciliated protozoan genome, Tetrahymena thermophila: A microbial model
organism for discovering fundamental principles of eukaryotic biology, it will
allow improved construction and stability of cell lines for the over-expression
of proteins, including cellulase enzymes to overcome the limiting hurdle of biomass-to-biofuel
production and metal-chelating proteins to enhance the already superior capacity
of ciliates for bioremediation of toxic heavy metals in industrial effluents.
Pine and Conifer EST resource: expressed sequence tags (ESTs) are fragments of
DNA sequence that serve as a tool for the identification of genes and prediction
of their protein products and their function. Conifer forests are among the most
productive in terms of annual lignocellulosic biomass generation, and coniferous
trees are the preferred feedstock for much of the forest products industry. Climate
change and exotic forest pests are threatening conifer populations. Breeding programs
to improve conifers will benefit from access to this genomic resource.
The soybean pathogen Heterodera glycines: Soybean is a major oil, feed,
and export crop, with $17 billion annually in unprocessed crop value in the U.S.
alone. Soy biodiesel is a leading contender for a renewable, alternative vehicle
fuel with a high energy density. Soybean has the environmental and energy advantage
of not requiring the use of nitrogen fertilizer. H. glycines is the most significant
pathogen of soybean in the U.S.; thus, sequencing its genome would aid in the
development of control strategies and directly contribute to soybean yield enhancement.
The liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha: The origin of land plants is acknowledged
as one of the major evolutionary events in the earth's history. Experimental,
paleontological, morphological, and molecular systematic data all point to the
liverworts as being among the first plants to evolve and colonize the landscape.
Thus, liverworts are a key group to include in any comparative study aimed at
understanding the origin and evolution of organisms that now cover much of terrestrial
earth.
DOE JGI and its collaborators have pioneered the emerging discipline of metagenomics--isolating,
sequencing, and characterizing DNA extracted directly from environmental samples--to
obtain a genomic and metabolic profile of the microbial community residing in
a particular environment. In addition to adding 54 different microbial isolate
genomes to the production sequencing queue in 2008, DOE JGI will work with large
communities of collaborators to take on four important metagenomic projects.
Anammox bacteria: Anammox bacteria are able to synthesize the rocket fuel hydrazine
from ammonia and hydroxylamine. Insight into the genes and proteins involved in
this reaction may be the basis for further optimization of the production of this
potent fuel in a suitable biological system. Also, anammox bacteria are responsible
for about 50 percent of the processing of ammonia to nitrogen gas in the ocean.
In marine ecosystems, the carbon and nitrogen cycles are closely connected. More
information about the regulation and mechanism of CO2 sequestration by anammox
bacteria in the ocean will contribute to our understanding of the global biogeochemical
cycles and their impact on climate change.
Biogas-degrading community: It is estimated that 236 million tons of municipal
solid waste is produced annually in the U.S., 50 percent of which is biomass.
Converting organic waste to renewable biofuel represents an appealing option to
exploit this potential resource. In California alone, it is estimated that 22
million tons of organic waste is generated annually, which if converted by microbial
digestion, could produce biogas equivalent to 1.3 million gallons of gasoline
per day. Yet little is known about the microorganisms involved and their biology.
This study aims to optimize the anaerobic digestion process and promote conversion
of biomass into biofuel.
Accumulibacter population genomics: Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR)
is a wastewater treatment process used throughout the world to protect surface
waters from accelerated stagnation and depletion of oxygen. EBPR can be unreliable
and often requires expensive backup chemical treatments to protect sensitive receiving
waters. This project will shed light on the microbial population dynamics leading
to better use and management of these important environmental systems.
Genomics of Yellowstone geothermal environments: The hot pools of Yellowstone
National Park harbor a mostly unexplored treasure-trove of extremeophiles, microbes
that thrive in extreme conditions. These communities represent a rich opportunity
to identify enzymes or processes that promise to advance biofuels and nanomaterial
science applications.
Established in 2005, the Community Sequencing Program (CSP) provides the scientific
community at large with access to high-throughput sequencing by DOE JGI for projects
of relevance to DOE missions. Sequencing projects are chosen based on scientific
merit--judged through independent peer review--and relevance to issues in bioenergy,
global carbon cycling, and bioremediation.
For a full list of the CSP 2008 sequencing projects, see http://www.jgi.doe.gov/sequencing/cspseqplans2008.html
Source: SeedQuest.com
15 June 2007
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1.06 The Centre for Plant Integrative Biology (CPIB)
opens in July at The University of Nottingham
A research centre at The University of Nottingham will break new ground in
our understanding of plant growth and could lead to the development of drought-resistant
crops for developing countries.
The Centre for Plant Integrative Biology (CPIB) will focus on cutting-edge research
into plant biology particularly the little-studied area of root growth,
function and response to environmental cues.
A greater understanding of plant roots, particularly how they respond to different
levels of moisture, nutrients and salt in the soil, could pave the way for the
development of new drought-resistant crops that can thrive in arid areas and coastal
margins of the developing world.
Because it is difficult to study roots as all their growth occurs below
ground level scientists will develop a 'virtual root' using the latest mathematical
modelling techniques. By developing computer models of the root that exactly mimic
biological processes, they will be able to observe what is happening at every
stage from the molecular scale upwards.
Research in this area is crucial because the roots dictate life or death for a
plant through uptake of water and nutrients, and response to environmental factors.
The CPIB, which is based at The University of Nottingham's Sutton Bonington Campus,
has its official opening on July 2, 2007.
Professor Charlie Hodgman, Principal Director of the CPIB, said: “CPIB aims to
set a prime example of how multidisciplinary teams can bring novel ideas to and
discoveries in crucial aspects of plant science.”
CPIB brings together experts from four different Schools at the University
Biosciences, Computer Science & IT, Mathematical Sciences, and Mechanical,
Materials and Manufacturing Engineering.
They will create a 'virtual root' of the simple weed Arabidopsis, a species
of the Brassica family routinely used for molecular genetic studies. Expertise
in Arabidopsis research is already well developed at the Nottingham Arabidopsis
Stock Centre, which integrally linked with CPIB.
This expertise will then be broadened into crop species. CPIB researchers ultimately
aim to integrate their 'virtual root' with those of other international projects
that model shoot and leaf development, leading to a generic computer model of
a whole plant which will again be used to advance crop and plant science.
Representatives from UK research councils, industry, publishers, and external
academics will gather at the opening event on July 2 with University of Nottingham
staff from the four academic schools involved. The event will feature talks by
members of the CPIB and invited speakers, including:
-Professor Philip Benfey, Duke University, USA
-Professor Jonathan Lynch, Penn State University, USA
-Professor Peter Hunter, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
CPIB is funded by the Systems Biology joint initiative of BBSRC and EPSRC, which
has provided £27M for six specialised centres across the UK.
More details of the CPIB and its official opening are available from Dr Susannah
Lydon on Susannah.lydon@nottingham.ac.uk
Source: EurekAlert.org
June 2007
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1.07 Maize as you like it – sweet, green, or as baby corn
The growth in high-value agriculture world-wide is driven partly by rising
incomes, urbanization, and perhaps changing preferences. As income rises, the
share of the food budget allocated to starchy staples declines relative to more
expensive food. High value agricultural products, with a high price per kilogram,
per hectare, or per calorie, include fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, milk, fish
and non-timber forest products. Can commodities, such as maize, be considered
high value agricultural products? Maize is truly a crop for all seasons, producing
multiple products. Most people value maize for its dry grain, which figures in
the staple foods of millions of the poor. However, a wide range of vegetable maize
products are harvested before the crop reaches maturity, the most important being
baby corn, sweet corn, and green ears. These products are sometimes traded internationally.
Initial estimates of the global value of sweet corn, baby corn and green maize
suggest that maize is one of the five most profitable vegetables in the world.
The “big five” producers of vegetable maize are China, the USA, Mexico, Peru,
and Thailand. The global retail value of vegetable maize is estimated to be in
the range US$ 13-32 billion. For comparison, the commercial value of tomatoes
is US$ 56 billion and around 18 billion worth of watermelon, onions and brassicas.
Vegetable maize is grown on all continents except the Antarctic.
Green maize
Green maize is eaten in more than half the world’s maize producing countries.
As a source of food, it provides relief during the “hungry season” for millions
of farm households in sub-Saharan Africa and other resource-poor areas where maize
is the main food source and farmers often fail to produce enough grain for an
entire year. “Elote” and “choclo” are the green maize types of Mesoamerica and
the Andes. Immature ears are harvested and the soft, naturally humid grain eaten
directly on the cob after boiling, steaming, or roasting. Green maize ears may
also be shelled and used in soups or to accompany main dishes. Specialty types
used this way include “Blanco Urubamba,” which is exported by Peru at US$ 700
per ton, or “Cacahuacintle” from Mexico, which has large, white, floury kernels
favored for a dish known as “pozole.” Those maize races are among the few horticultural
genotypes included in the “multilateral system” of the 2004 International Treaty
for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which facilitates access
to crop genetic resources and provides a benefit sharing mechanism intended to
help farmers.
Socioeconomic studies needed
Further assessment is needed to understand better the value of maize as a
vegetable for the livelihoods of the very poor. In addition to providing food
calories, vegetable maize provides protein and minerals. For maize and other high-value
crops to contribute to poverty reduction, the performance of value chains needs
to be improved. An organizational and institutional analysis of the governance
and coordination these chains could provide policy and other solutions to improve
benefits to farmers, without penalizing other actors. These chains could also
be made to work more effectively and efficiently through participatory approaches,
such as learning alliances. Githeri, a mix of maize and beans, is a dietary staple
in Kenya. Quality protein maize (QPM) and maize with enhanced levels of vitamin
A-, iron, or zinc can improve nutrition in areas where maize is a major staple
and farmers cannot afford balanced diets or purchase supplements. These large,
purple maize grains are used to make a popular drink in Peru.
June 2007
For more information: Rodomiro Ortiz
r.ortiz@cgiar.org
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1.08 Africa must create its own biotechnology
agenda
Building public support for genetically modified crops in sub-Saharan Africa
means developing a homegrown solution to the region's own needs.
This week representatives from African countries will gather in Johannesburg,
South Africa, for Agricultural Science Week. Many will be asking how their governments
can respond to the pressure from large parts of their agricultural communities
to commercialise genetically modified (GM) crops on one side, and the large sectors
of their voting publics against GM on the other.
At one level, the decision seems straightforward. Scientific achievements in GM
plant breeding over the past two decades have produced a range of new crops that
can increase farmers' productivity while reducing their production costs
for example, by substantially lessening the needs for fertilisers and insecticides.
But at the same time, GM technology has not been around long enough for all its
side effects to be understood. For critics of the technology, the worrying possibilities
of what might happen were the technology to get out of control however remote
is sufficient reason to halt development until more is known.
Put in these terms, the political challenge is familiar. A new technology needs
an effective regulatory regime that allows its potential to be harnessed safely,
while potential side effects are closely monitored.
Indeed, as highlighted in our regional spotlight on agricultural technology published
this week, implementing such biosafety regimes is now a priority across Africa
(see Agri-biotech in sub-Saharan
Africa).
A groundswell of opposition
But if the challenge is familiar, why has it taken so long to put solutions
into place? Partly this is because scientific uncertainty remains over what the
side effects are likely to be. But, more importantly, a groundswell of opposition
from vocal critics has exploited this uncertainty to place governments on the
defensive, reluctant to move forward for fear of alienating voters.
Such opposition needs to be taken seriously. One response is to demonstrate that
governments are adequately informed about the potential risks of GM technologies
before making decisions on biosafety regulations. Here the scientific community
both individual scientists and institutions such as scientific academies
can help.
Governments must also ensure that their electorates are sufficiently informed
about both the potential benefits and risks of GM technologies. Information campaigns
in which journalists have a role to play through sound reporting will
not necessarily endorse GM crops. They will, however, increase the chances that
political decisions come out of scientifically-based arguments, rather than unfounded
speculation.
A political agenda?
Yet as European governments have discovered, neither a pledge to evidence-based
decision making, nor the organisation of campaigns promoting public understanding
of biotechnology are sufficient. Both ignore the extent to which many critics
have a political agenda namely a desire to oppose not so much GM technology
itself but the multinational corporations promoting it.
To this, there is no straightforward reply. The critics legitimately argue that
corporations like Monsanto and Syngenta control many key GM technologies. Such
corporations' primary loyalty is to their shareholders, not their customers.
But a large proportion of work on GM crops also comes from the public sector,
through international agricultural research centres, for example.
Still, this has done little to soothe the public perception which some politicians
have been quick to seize on that commercialising GM crops in a country opens
up its farmers to exploitation by foreign interests.
A homegrown industry
There is only one appropriate long-term response to this argument. African
countries like others in the developing world must develop the scientific
and technological capacity to ensure that biotechnology meets their own needs,
on their own terms.
This means building programmes that address the potential of GM technology to
enhance the 'orphan crops' often neglected by foreign corporations. Such crops,
including cassava, pigeon pea and sorghum are already under development, but more
support is needed, particularly in the regulatory arena.
Political leaders must acknowledge that biotechnology can become a homegrown industry
in Africa and they must be willing to commit the necessary resources. This
should include fewer incentives for foreign companies to set up shop, and greater
investment in scientific infrastructure and capacity building efforts including
support for universities and regional research networks.
A step in this direction was taken in January when African Union leaders endorsed
a 20-year 'Freedom to Innovate' biotechnology plan. But endorsing a plan is one
thing, putting it into effect is another. Until that happens, genetic modification
will continue to be seen as a Northern technology meeting predominantly Northern
interests and opposition will continue to flourish.
David Dickson
Director, SciDev.Net
Source: SciDev.net
12 June 2007
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1.09 Third generation GM crops: an opportunity
for Africa
Engineered plants can produce pharmaceuticals and industrial products
Idah Sithole-Niang
Growing pharmaceuticals and industrial products in plants through genetic
engineering presents an important opportunity that Africa should grasp now.
Such crops include plants engineered to produce biodegradable plastics, fibrous
proteins, adhesives and synthetic proteins. For example, tobacco and potato plants
have been engineered to produce spider silks.
'Pharmacrops' are plants genetically modified to produce pharmaceuticals, for
example vaccines, antibodies and proteins to treat human or animal diseases. Maize
engineered to express human gastric lipase, used to treat cystic fibrosis, is
already in advanced clinical trials.
So Africa must move quickly to get ahead and realise the real economic gains these
'third generation' genetically modified (GM) crops offer. This will mean building
regulatory capacity and investing in key products. But perhaps most importantly,
all African countries must ensure public support for the technology.
Various fungal, bacterial and transgenic animal systems already exist to produce
third generation GM products, but plant systems have the greatest potential for
economic benefits. They offer low production costs, improved safety, purity, ease
of storage and consistent and scalable production all of which can be exploited
to meet diverse demands and applications.
Changing attitudes
Although 'third generation' crops are only grown on small scales, their 'first
generation' counterparts (plants modified to improve the original crop) are rapidly
being adopted across the world. But sub-Saharan Africa has been slow to take them
up, apart from South Africa, where poor farmers grow pest-resistant Bt cotton.
Fears about food safety, environmental safety, and loss of overseas sales have
hindered GM crops. But studies show such fears are largely unfounded. For example,
in 2004, the Food and Agriculture Organization concluded that there was no evidence
anywhere in the world that GM foods were toxic or harmed nutrition.
Attitudes to GM crops may now be changing, as policymakers recognise that science,
technology and innovation can drive economic development. For example, the African
Union now has both a High Level Panel on Biotechnology and a fund to support research
and development. This is a resounding acknowledgement that African economies should,
in part, be bio-economies.
Once African governments accept that biotechnology can boost their economies,
they will be more willing to finance local research to address local problems
out of their own national budgets. Researchers and industry should take full advantage
of these changing attitudes to secure investment in research and technologies
for producing plant-made pharmaceuticals and industrial products.
Tackling safety concerns
Cultivating third generation crops commercially can raise legitimate biosafety
concerns.
Using food crops, such as maize, can provoke fears of the health risks if such
crops entered food or animal feed supplies. Cross-contamination has already occurred
in the United States. In 2002 inspectors from the US Department for Agriculture
found 550 000 bushels of soybean were contaminated with maize genetically engineered
to produce a vaccine for pigs. The maize had not been completely removed after
an earlier GM crop. Such instances fuel worries that regulators will not
or cannot effectively segregating food and pharmacrops.
But this is not sufficient reason to abandon the technology altogether. Rather,
regulators must improve biosafety and mitigate such risks. They will need comprehensive
biosafety regulations on transporting and trading GM crops now being developed
across most of Africa (see Harmonising
biosafety regulations within Africa) as well as measures to minimise
contamination and gene flow during production.
These include cultivation in high security greenhouses, isolation distances increased
beyond current recommendations, strict monitoring and good record keeping. Such
measures suit sparsely populated areas of Africa, where third generation GM crops
can be more easily kept apart from food crops.
Effective segregation will inevitably increase production costs, but the economic
gains of supplying global markets for pharmaceutical and industrial products will
vastly outweigh these.
Other ways of improving the biosafety of third generation GM crops include knowing
the biology of the crop, taking advantage of flowering times and using sterile
host plants. Genetic modifications can also use genes expressed in the chloroplast.
This minimises gene flow as chloroplasts are maternally inherited and has the
added advantage of increasing yields.
The right crops for Africa
First generation GM crops have largely been a response to demand in temperate
zones. The future is still open for third generation GM crops. Africa needs to
act now to become a key player while this technology is still being developed.
Individual African countries must concentrate their efforts on crops relevant
to their own environments and needs for example cassava, cowpea, banana,
millet or yams.
Africa needs an integrated approach, pooling scientific expertise and resources.
The common goal is to identify key pharmaceutical and industrial products, develop
appropriate crops, and use combined capacity to regulate production and distribution.
Public support is crucial
Perhaps most importantly, all African countries must engage public support
for third generation GM crops. Raising awareness and educating the public must
be made as much of a priority as developing the technology itself.
The first step is convincing policy and decision makers of the potential social
and economic benefits. Study tours organised specifically for such people are
already having a huge effect on the acceptance of the technology, but it is public
acceptance that will carry the day.
Idah Sithole-Niang is a professor in the department of biochemistry at the
University of Zimbabwe.
Source: SciDev.net
12 June 2007
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1.10 Agri-biotech in Africa: Safety
first?
Maryke Steffens reports on the influences behind Africa's diverse attitudes
to transgenic crops, and the need for a unified agenda.
Africa embraces a range of attitudes towards agricultural biotechnology, particularly
transgenic crops. While genetically modified (GM) crops are commercially farmed
in South Africa, an informal ban is in place in Zambia.
Biotechnology promises to solve many of Africa's problems, including an insecure
food supply from a dry, harsh and unpredictable land. But the African Union (AU)
believes that if Africa is to pursue biotechnology's promise it is going to have
to do so as a cohesive whole.
Too many outsiders are pushing biotechnology agendas in Africa, says John Mugabe,
science and technology advisor to the New Partnership for Africa's Development
(NEPAD).
Mugabe believes that foreign interests, imposed on Africa, are creating a continent
with no clear strategy.
He says the time has come for Africa to take back control of its biotech future.
Risk assessment
David Duthie, from the biosafety unit at the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP),
says the problem is that many countries are confused about how to approach GM.
"African countries are really struggling with this," says Duthie. "They don't
have access to [scientific] literature, they don't have scientific and technical
elites to talk about the subjects. But they do have a lot of newspapers and a
lot of media."
The chief concern of many countries is the safety of the environment and people's
health. In accordance with the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, UNEP has been
setting up procedures to help sub-Saharan African countries decide whether or
not to import GM crops.
Cameroon, Kenya, Namibia and Uganda are working with UNEP to make their biosafety
policies operational, while almost all other African states plan to have draft
policies by December 2007, when the UNEP project is scheduled to end.
According to Duthie, UNEP has stayed clear of the pro- versus anti-GM fray.
"As a UN agency, we take a policy-neutral approach. We don't prescribe any particular
policy or approach to safe use of modern biotechnology."
Caught between transatlantic differences
How a country defines 'safe' in the context of biotechnology forms the cornerstone
of the debate. Germany and the United States both actively implementing
biosafety policy and research programmes in Africa are in disagreement.
In the United States a transgenic product is considered to pose no new health
risks if it can be assessed as 'substantially equivalent' to its unmodified counterpart.
But in Germany, which had led the formation of EU policy in Europe, the 'precautionary
principle' is used. In the face of uncertainty, a defensive approach is taken
even when causal links have not been scientifically established.
"From the EU standpoint, there is this question of 'what if?'" says José Falck-Zepeda,
a research fellow at the US-based International Food Policy Research Institute.
Falck-Zepeda says there is no clear endpoint in that decision making process,
whereas the United States is willing to live with a system that considers "safety
as a matter of degree".
There are nations in Africa willing to live with this system too. The US-funded
Program for Biosafety Systems has trained scientists in countries such as Ghana,
Kenya, Malawi and Uganda to run field trials for GM crops in line with its own
approach to biosafety.
Germany has directed its efforts toward persuading the AU, rather than individual
countries, to adopt new biosafety regulations. Though the AU has no authority
over its member states, it advises them on biosafety regulations.
Germany has, for example, funded an AU biosafety project, now in its second year,
that focuses on building an Africa-wide biological safety system where member
states are guided by a regional model law the African Model Law on Safety
in Biotechnology.
The proposed law, which some say derives from the idea that the Cartagena Protocol
cannot sufficiently safeguard human health and the environment in an African context,
is conservative in its approach to biosafety. It puts the onus on exporting countries
to pay compensation if any harm or loss of livelihood occurs as a result of introducing
GM products.
A combined approach
Although a great deal of money has been invested in Africa through these projects,
some think African nations have not benefited as much as they should have.
"The different projects may have resulted in more fragmentation," says Julius
Mugwagwa, a researcher from the UK-based Open University and a former biotechnologist
at the Biotechnology Trust of Zimbabwe, where he assisted in setting up a regional
initiative (RAEIN-Africa) implementing a Southern African biosafety and environment
programme from Namibia.
The Freedom to Innovate report, jointly published by NEPAD and the AU and put
together by the High-Level African Panel on Modern Biotechnology, tries to reconcile
these competing interests.
NEPAD's John Mugabe says it is about Africa taking back control of biotechnology
and expanding scientific capacity laboratories, scientists, field trials
beyond biosafety frameworks.
The report involved an all-African panel of experts, including Calestous Juma
from Harvard University, the director general of Ethiopia's Environmental Protection
Authority Tewolde Egziabher and representatives from the German-funded AU biosafety
project, as well as scientists and representatives of nongovernmental organisations.
They were charged with charting a strategy based on consensus.
Ismail Serageldin, director of the Library of Alexandria and co-chair of the panel,
says the report offers "an alternative way forward from the paralysis that has
characterised much of the work in Africa".
According to co-chair Calestous Juma, it is about developing long-term strategies
that will give biotechnology efforts "a more pragmatic focus".
The Freedom to Innovate report emphasises the need for countries across Africa
to unify their approach to biotechnology and regulation of risk.
Julius Mugwagwa says if countries don't work collaboratively as regional economic
communities they will lose out.
He says regions want to be seen as one big market, so that investors won't have
any problems with different systems in different countries. According to Mugwagwa,
there will be economic losses if they don't harmonise.
He says the report reflects the continent's current enthusiasm for science, technology
and innovation to "propel economies to a greater level".
But, he adds, whether this can be translated from an expert-driven report into
sustained action at the implementation level is another question.
"A critical issue is how prepared are the regional economic communities at the
policy, infrastructural, human resources and other levels to handle these responsibilities?"
Mugwagwa also questions the potential commitment of individual countries to the
Freedom to Innovate report, especially those without the technical or policy capacity
to contribute to regional biotechnology activities.
Some countries have been reluctant to let go of their sovereignty, but this may
be changing. In March, West African states adopted a regional five-year plan of
action for increasing food production through biotechnology.
Saving the orphans
The risk associated with incompatible biosafety requirements across the continent
goes far beyond economic loss.
Small public-sector projects aimed at developing 'orphan' crops such as sorghum,
cassava and pigeon pea largely ignored by big biotechnology companies
may struggle to move forward through the sheer number of regulatory hurdles. These
projects' limited financial resources would stretch further under one common testing
and approval process.
Supporting these projects is vital, according to Frank Shotkoski from USAID (US
Agency for International Development) who is currently involved in a Ugandan project
on transgenic pest-resistant bananas.
Although agricultural biotechnology can't be a "silver bullet" solution for Africa,
he believes it has "the potential to do more to bring Africa up to speed on the
ability to produce food for its people than any other technology out there".
Field trials
Several countries in sub-Saharan Africa are already running or planning GM
field trials of both orphan and commercial crops.
Burkina Faso, Kenya, Malawi and Uganda are preparing for trials with Bt
cotton engineered to carry the insect-killing Bt toxin. Kenya is
pursuing transgenic maize, sweet potato and cassava. Nigeria is looking into Bt
cowpea, and virus-resistant cassava is in the pipeline in Nigeria and Uganda.
There are other projects planned. The Harvest Plus project, funded by the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation, for example, is fighting malnutrition with GM technology
by fortifying the nutrient content of key crops such as sorghum, banana and cassava.
If Africa can forge a common path to protecting itself from any unseen consequences
of GM technology without smothering innovation, it could find a pot of gold at
the end of the transgenic rainbow.
According to Ismail Serageldin, Africa must look to the success stories and get
inspiration. "These should not be the exception and they can be the norm," he
says.
Source: SciDev.net
12 June 2007
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1.11 New study finds genetically engineered crops could play a role
in sustainable agriculture
Possible benefits include reduced use of chemicals in crops modified with
insecticidal gene
(Santa Barbara, California) – Genetically modified (GM) crops may contribute
to increased productivity in sustainable agriculture, according to a groundbreaking
study published in the June 8 issue of the journal Science. The study analyzes,
for the first time, environmental impact data from field experiments all over
the world, involving corn and cotton plants with a Bt gene inserted for its insecticidal
properties. The research was conducted by scientists at the National Center for
Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at the University of California, Santa
Barbara, The Nature Conservancy, and Santa Clara University. The study is accompanied
by a searchable global database for agricultural and environmental scientists
studying the effects of genetically engineered crops.
Biotechnology and genetic engineering are controversial because of concerns about
risks to human health and biodiversity, but few analyses exist that reveal the
actual effects genetically modified plants have on other non-modified species.
In an analysis of 42 field experiments, scientists found that this particular
modification, which causes the plant to produce an insecticide internally, can
have an environmental benefit because large-scale insecticide spraying can be
avoided. Organisms such as ladybird beetles, earthworms, and bees in locales with
“Bt crops” fared better in field trials than those within locales treated with
chemical insecticides.
“This is a groundbreaking study and the first of its kind to evaluate the current
science surrounding genetically modified crops. The results are significant for
how we think about technology and the future of sustainable agriculture,” said
Peter Kareiva, chief scientist of The Nature Conservancy.
According to lead author, Michele Marvier, of Santa Clara University, “We can
now answer the question: Do Bt crops have effects on beneficial insects and worms"
The answer is that it depends to a large degree upon the type of comparison one
makes. When Bt crops are compared to crops sprayed with insecticides, the Bt crops
come out looking quite good. But when Bt crops are compared to crops without insecticides,
there are reductions of certain animal groups that warrant further investigation.”
What is clear is that the advantages or disadvantages of GM crops depend on the
specific goals and vision for agroecosystems.
As NCEAS Director, Jim Reichman explains, “This important study by an interdisciplinary
research team reveals how an in-depth analysis of large quantities of existing
data from many individual experiments can provide a greater understanding of a
complex issue. The project is enhanced by the creation of a public database, Nontarget
Effects of Bt Crops, developed by NCEAS ecoinformatics expert, Jim Regetz, that
will allow other scientists to conduct congruent analyses.”
Contact: Margaret Connors
connors@nceas.ucsb.edu
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis/UCSB
Source: EurekAlert.org
7 June 2007
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1.12 GM/GMO/Biotech crop containment
strategy
New Brunswick, N.J. – Plant geneticists at Rutgers, The State University of
New Jersey, may have solved one of the fundamental problems in genetically engineered
or modified (GM or GMO) crop agriculture: genes leaking into the environment.
In a recent paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science,
Rutgers Professor Pal Maliga and research associate Zora Svab advocate an alternative
and more secure means of introducing genetic material into a plant. In GM crops
today, novel genes are inserted into a cell nucleus but can eventually wind up
in pollen grains or seeds that make their way out into the environment.
The two researchers at Rutgers’ Waksman Institute of Microbiology argue for implanting
the genes into another component of the cell – the plastid – where the risk of
escape is minimized. Plastids, rarely found in pollen, are small bodies inside
the cell that facilitate photosynthesis, the basic life process in plants.
“Our work with a tobacco plant model is breathing new life into an approach that
had been dismissed out-of-hand for all the wrong reasons,” said Maliga. “Introducing
new agriculturally useful genes through the plastid may prove the most effective
means for engineering the next generation of GM crops.”
Skeptics had claimed that the approach was ineffective, based on 20-year-old genetic
data showing that 2 percent of the pollen carried plastids. In the new study,
Svab and Maliga found plastids in pollen 100- to 1000-times less frequently. This
is well below the threshold generally accepted for additional containment measures.
The agricultural community worldwide seems to be embracing GM crops because the
technology has the potential to deliver more healthful and nutritious crops, and
increase crop yields with less use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
A “News Focus” story in the May 25 issue of the journal Science reported that
genetically modified crops are flourishing worldwide, including in six European
Union countries. “Last year (2006), 10 million farmers in 22 countries planted
more than 100 million hectares with GM crops,” it said.
There has been serious opposition to genetically modified agriculture both in
the United States and abroad, coming from concerns about “foreign genes” escaping
from GM crops, crossing with and contaminating other crops and wild species, and
disrupting the ecosystem.
Pursuing the approach elucidated and advocated by the Rutgers researchers’ findings
may allay some of these fears and deflate the more vociferous arguments.
Svab and Maliga acknowledge that different strains of tobacco may produce plastid-carrying
pollen at different frequencies, possibly accounting for some of the discrepancy
between the old genetic data and the new. They emphasize that it will be important
that any new crops that are developed be selected for low plastid pollen.
“We expect that there are nuclear genes which control the probability of plastids
finding their way into pollen, but we have the tools that can be used to identify
those genetic lines in every crop that will transmit plastids only at a low frequency,”
Maliga said.
Contact: Joseph Blumberg
blumberg@ur.rutgers.edu
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Source: SeedQuest.com
6 June 2007
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1.13 Genes explain the amazing global
spread of maize
Mexico
No need to dig for ancient seeds to discover how and when maize moved from its
ancestral home in Mesoamerica to become one of the world’s most widely-sown and
popular food crops. New work by gene sleuths from CIMMYT and numerous maize growing
countries solves the puzzle using DNA of present-day maize.
How did a crop domesticated some 7,000 years ago from a humble Mexican grass called
teosinte become the number-one food crop in Africa and Latin America, and a major
food, feed, and industrial crop just about everywhere else?
The incredible story of maize has been told in books, but there have always been
lingering doubts, unanswered questions. If, for example, as records show, in 1493
Columbus brought maize to Spain from his visit to the warm climes and long days
of the Caribbean, how is it that reliable accounts have the crop being grown in
1539 in the cold, short daylengths of Germany? That’s only 46 years later, and
far too soon for such a radical adaptation in tropical maize. In another case,
maize was supposedly brought to African countries like Nigeria by Portuguese colonists,
but the local names for maize in that country are of Arabic derivation, suggesting
that the crop likely arrived via Arabic-speaking traders.
Deciphering the history in genes
Recent work by CIMMYT and partners sheds new light on maize’s global migration.
With support from Generation, a Challenge Program of the Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research, and in collaboration with nine research institutes
on four continents, scientists have used DNA markersmolecular signposts for
genes of interestand new approaches to analyze nearly 900 populations of
maize and teosinte from around the world. “What is emerging is a far clearer picture
of the crop’s global diversity and the pathways that led to it,” says CIMMYT molecular
geneticist and leader of the effort, Marilyn
Warburton.
Phase I of the work was funded by PROMAIS, a European maize consortium, and focused
on North America and Europe. The Generation Challenge Program commissioned Phase
II, which featured global coverage and brought the number of maize populations
studied to 580. In Phase III, partners are adding another 300 populations of maize
and teosinte, to fill any geographical gaps. A primary objective is to gather
samples of landraceslocal varieties developed through centuries of farmer
selectionand ensure their conservation in germplasm banks. The diversity
studies apply a method developed by Warburton for using DNA markers on bulk samples
of individuals from large, heterogeneous populations like those typical for maize.
The great divide: Temperate vs tropical maize
Among other things, the studies corroborate the notion that northern European
maize originates from North American varieties brought to the continent several
decades after Columbus’ returned, and definitely not from tropical genotypes.
“The two main modern divisions of maize arose about 3,000 years ago,” says Warburton,
“as maize arrived in what is now the southwestern US and, at about the same time,
on the islands of the Caribbean. Temperate maize spread further north and east
across North America, while tropical maize spread south. The temperate-tropical
division remains today. What maintains it are differences in disease susceptibility
and photosensitivityessentially, how daylength affects flowering time. The
two maize types are now so different from each other that they do not cross well,
and their hybrids are not well adapted anywhere.”
The work continues and, in addition to elucidating the epic journey of maize,
will help breeders to home in on and more effectively use traits like drought
tolerance from the vast gene pool of maize.
The above report is largely based on a longer description of this work, “Tracing
history’s maize,” that appears in Generation’s “Partner and Product Highlights
2006.”
June 1, 2007
Source: CIMMYT E-News, vol 4 no. 5, May 2007
Contributed by Rodomiro Ortiz
r.ortiz@cgiar.org
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1.14 Pollen and pollinators are vital for conservation
Rome, Italy
Pollen and pollinators could play a much more important role in the conservation
of crop diversity, Dr Jan Engels, a senior scientist at Bioversity
International, today told the 9th International Pollination
Symposium in Ames, Iowa, USA.
"People are used to the idea of long-term storage of seeds in genebanks," Engels
said, "but we could also store pollen, and that would be very useful."
At present pollen is sometimes stored for relatively short periods so that researchers
can make use of it in breeding programmes. It is also a good form in which safely
to transport genetic diversity around the world, because few diseases are transmitted
through pollen. Engels and co-author Dr Ehsan Dulloo, suggest that it would be
ideal to store pollen as well as seeds.
Dulloo, an expert on genebank storage, explains that not all plants have seeds
that can be dried and cooled for storage "Some are recalcitrant," he said, "meaning
we have to find other ways to store them. Some pollen is recalcitrant too and
cannot be stored. But there is no correlation between recalcitrant seeds and recalcitrant
pollen, so long-term storage of pollen offers a complementary approach to the
conservation of plants with recalcitrant seeds."
Of course there are disadvantages; pollen carries only the male part of the genome,
and it can be difficult to collect. But the benefits for rational conservation
of crop diversity are great.
"The other area where we really need pollen is in-situ conservation and the conservation
of crop wild relatives," adds Engels. “But really, it is the pollinators we need.”
In-situ conservation takes place in farmers' fields and surrounding areas and
complements ex-situ storage in genebanks. It allows plants to continue to interact
with their environment and thus allows their genes to continue evolving and adapting
to changed circumstances.
"Without the right pollinators, crops and wild relatives are not going to make
nearly as many seeds, threatening their survival," Engels said. “We have to maintain
a diversity of other plants in the vicinity to provide pollinators with alternative
food sources and other requirements.” Because it supports pollinators, high local
diversity has also been shown to improve the productivity of agricultural crops,
such as coffee in Costa Rica and papaya in Kenya.
Pollinators are also vitally important for ex-situ collections. When genebank
managers need to regenerate samples in store they rely on pollinators to maintain
the genetic diversity of cross-pollinated species.
Engels is hopeful that researchers will respond to the interdisciplinary challenge
of investigating and making more use of pollen and pollinators to improve long-term
conservation of useful plant diversity.
Source: SeedQuest.com
26 June 2007
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1.15 Pepper diversity on display
Washington, DC
Peppers don't have to be just green and bell shaped and relegated to the supermarket
shelf or home garden plot. This genus of plants has the genetic potential to provide
a wide array of possibilities for the kitchen and the ornamental garden and sometimes
both at once.
Research on peppers from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is being featured
from June to November in an exhibit called “A Pepper for Every Pot” at the U.S.
Botanic Gardens in Washington, D.C. This exhibit explores the diversity of peppers,
including recently introduced varieties, and celebrates peppers’ beauty, flavors
and nutritional benefits.
Among new pepper varieties that ARS has already developed are Tangerine Dream
and Black Pearl. Tangerine Dream is a sweet, edible ornamental pepper that produces
small orange banana-shaped fruit on a prostrate plant. Black Pearl, an All America
Selections award winner, offers gardeners a new dark choice: black leaves and
shiny black fruit that ripen to bright scarlet. Both varieties are commercially
available.
The pretty Black Pearl pepper can also serve as a hot pepper for the kitchen,
making it a dual purpose pepper for today's smaller urban gardens.
The pod-type pepper genus--Capsicum--is native to the Western hemisphere and figured
strongly in the Aztec, Mayan and Incan cultures, second only in importance to
maize. Today, peppers are just as likely to show off in flower gardens as in vegetable
gardens. Ornamental peppers have become a profitable crop for commercial growers
and retailers. The ornamental plant market is worth nearly $5 billion in the United
States each year and specialty peppers could capture a larger portion of those
dollars.
ARS plant geneticists John Stommel and Robert Griesbach were drawn to the idea
of developing new colorful ornamentals for the garden and the kitchen because
considerable diversity exists in the Capsicum genus for fruit and leaf shape,
size and color as well as plant habit.
Stommel is with the Genetic Improvement of Fruits and Vegetables Laboratory and
Griesbach is with the Floral and Nursery Plants Research Unit, both part of the
ARS Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, MD.
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Kim Kaplan
kim.kaplan@ars.usda.gov
Source: ARS News Service via SeedQuest.com
28 June 2007
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1.16 Scientists discover a gene that allows
plants to grow better in low nutrient conditions
Scientists have discovered a gene that allows plants to grow better in low
nutrient conditions and even enhance their growth through sodium uptake, according
to a report published online this week in The EMBO Journal.
Salty soil caused by irrigation practices in arid regions has become a major agricultural
problem – not only in India, China and African countries, but also around the
Mediterranean and in dry regions of the USA, such as California. This is only
expected to get worse in forthcoming years, as climate change leads to desertification.
Julian Schroeder and coworkers investigated a sodium transporter called OsHKT2;1
in the roots of rice plants. Their results provide evidence that this transporter
has capabilities previously thought to exist but not genetically validated in
plants before. Under salt stress, when sodium levels are too high, OsHKT2;1 transport
is quickly shut off, protecting the plant from accumulating too much sodium before
it can become toxic.
In addition, the authors found that sodium can also have beneficial effects under
nutrient poor conditions. On soils where little nutritional potassium is available,
a common problem after many years of agricultural production, plants can take
up sodium through the OsHKT2;1 transporter to replace some of the functions of
potassium and actually enhance growth. This improvement of our understanding of
how plants regulate salt uptake in their roots may help to eventually find a solution
to reducing the impact of soil salinity on agricultural productivity.
Source: The EMBO Journal
via SeedQuest.com
June 2007
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1.17 Sowing seed on salty ground
Scientists have discovered a gene that allows plants to grow better in
low nutrient conditions
Scientists have discovered a gene that allows plants to grow better in low
nutrient conditions and even enhance their growth through sodium uptake, according
to a report published online this week in The EMBO Journal.
Salty soil caused by irrigation practices in arid regions has become a major agricultural
problem – not only in India, China and African countries, but also around the
Mediterranean and in dry regions of the USA, such as California. This is only
expected to get worse in forthcoming years, as climate change leads to desertification.
Julian Schroeder and coworkers investigated a sodium transporter called OsHKT2;1
in the roots of rice plants. Their results provide evidence that this transporter
has capabilities previously thought to exist but not genetically validated in
plants before. Under salt stress, when sodium levels are too high, OsHKT2;1 transport
is quickly shut off, protecting the plant from accumulating too much sodium before
it can become toxic.
In addition, the authors found that sodium can also have beneficial effects under
nutrient poor conditions. On soils where little nutritional potassium is available,
a common problem after many years of agricultural production, plants can take
up sodium through the OsHKT2;1 transporter to replace some of the functions of
potassium and actually enhance growth. This improvement of our understanding of
how plants regulate salt uptake in their roots may help to eventually find a solution
to reducing the impact of soil salinity on agricultural productivity.
###
Contact: Julian Schroeder
julian@biomail.ucsd.edu
European Molecular Biology Organization
Source: EurekAlert.org
6 June 2007
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1.18 The CNAP Artemisia Research Project:
how to subscribe to updates
The last edition of the Plant Breeding Newsletter (Edition 179, Item 1.03)
carried a copy of the first E-update on the CNAP Artemisia Research Project.
This project was launched last year with the aim of using fast-track breeding
technologies to create, non-GM artemisia cultivars with increased artemisinin
yields. If you would like to receive further updates, please reply to CNAP-Artemisia@york.ac.uk with
the word subscribe in the subject line.
Contributed by Elspeth Bartlet
External Communications Manager
The CNAP Artemisia Research Project
eb526@york.ac.uk
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1.19 International joint venture research project produces
experimental wheat variety with 70 per cent amylose content
Australia
International collaboration between the GRDC, CSIRO
and French farmer-owned company, Limagrain
Céréales Ingrédients, has produced an experimental wheat variety with a 70
per cent amylose content, the major component of starch.
CSIRO grains researcher, Dr Matthew Morell discussed the $A12.5 million joint
venture research project into high amylose wheat (HAW) at the BIO 07 conference
in Boston, USA.
"Using RNAi gene silencing techniques, researchers can define the genetic changes
required to generate HAW, which will help develop conventionally bred and GM wheat
varieties," Dr Morell said.
"Increasing wheat's resistant starch levels could lead to reduced colorectal cancer
risk and improved blood glucose control.
"New high fibre barleys, high amylose wheat varieties and oilseeds rich in omega-3
fatty acids are part of the suite of new grains being developed in the CSIRO Food
Futures Flagship program that will produce grain based foods to help improve bowel
and heart health," he said.
Source: SeedQuest.com
6 June 2007
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1.20 RNAi-mediated resistance to Bean golden mosaic virus
in genetically engineered common bean
RNA interference (RNAi) was used to obtain a common bean line resistant to
bean golden mosaic virus (BGMV), the virus responsible for golden mosaic disease
in the crop. The research, conducted in Brazil, reports that 93% of the plants
from the transgenic resistant line were free of symptoms upon high pressure inoculation.
BGMV is a major constraint in bean production that causes yield losses between
40 to 100%. The virus is transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci. The RNAi
approach uses an RNA interference construct to silence the sequence region of
the AC1 viral gene, producing resistant common bean. Compared to the non-transgenic
control with 100% golden mosaic incidence after 38 days of inoculation, the transgenic
line has only 7.8% disease incidence.
For details the complete paper published in Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions
can be accessed by subscribers at http://www.apsnet.org/mpmi/SubscriberContent/2007/MPMI-20-6-0717.pdf
.
RNAi-Mediated Resistance to Bean golden mosaic virus in Genetically Engineered
Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris).
K. Bonfim, J. C. Faria, E. O. P. L. Nogueira, É. A. Mendes, and F. J. L. Aragão.
Pages 717-726.
Source: Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions
June 2007, via SeedQuest.com
15 June 2007
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1.21 Researchers demonstrate way to control
tree height
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Forest scientists at Oregon State University have used genetic
modification to successfully manipulate the growth in height of trees, showing
that it’s possible to create miniature trees that look similar to normal trees
– but after several years of growth may range anywhere from 50 feet tall to a
few inches.
This is a “proof of concept” that tree height can be readily controlled by genetic
engineering techniques. It opens the door to a wide variety of new products for
the ornamental and nursery industries, experts say, if regulatory hurdles can
be overcome – a big “if.”
The findings were recently published in the journal Landscape Plant News.
“From a science perspective, this is a very interesting accomplishment and there’s
no doubt it could be made to work,” said Steven Strauss, a professor of forest
science at OSU.
“But further development may be precluded by social, legal and regulatory obstacles,”
he said. “Clearly there would be concerns whether the market for specialty tree
products such as this would be strong enough to make it worth the large investments
of time, money and testing that current regulation of genetically modified organisms
would require, at least in the U.S.”
That aside, he said, it appears that with further research and development programs,
it would indeed be possible to create an elm tree – which ordinarily would grow
to 100 feet or more – that is only five feet tall at maturity, a charming addition
that would fit nicely on a backyard deck. Or a 30-foot version that might be a
better fit on urban streets. Or, in fact, just about any height in between. Other
changes can also affect foliage shapes or color in very attractive ways, and some
might have value in cleaning up environmental pollution.
In their studies, OSU scientists were able to create young poplar trees, which
grow rapidly and can reach a mature height of 150 feet or more, that were anywhere
from about 15 feet to a few inches tall after two years of growth. The smallest
of them could be difficult to even find, tiny little “shrublets” among the flowers
in the field site.
The manipulation of height growth was achieved by insertion of certain genes,
mostly taken from the model plant Arabidopsis, which inhibited the action of a
class of plant-specific hormones known as gibberellic acids. These compounds are
also used as sprays to control the size and fruiting of orchard trees. In trees,
the compounds promote the elongation of plant cells – when they are inhibited,
the cells do not fully elongate, and plants remain short and stocky.
“It’s really interesting that these genes from Arabidopsis, which is a small plant
in the mustard family, have been conserved through 50-100 million years of evolution
and can perform more or less the same function in poplar trees,” Strauss said.
“The modified trees themselves look pretty much normal, just a lot smaller, and
a little more compact or bushy.”
Altogether, the researchers used seven distinct kinds of genes and more than 160
different types of genetic insertions to create about 600 genetically modified
trees. All caused decreased signaling by gibberellic acids. They were grown in
the field with USDA approval, and assessed several times for variation in size
and appearance.
Other than reduced size, there appeared to be striking variation in foliage color
and leaf shape, some of which might have significant ornamental value. Root development
also appeared to be very strong, which might provide increased stress tolerance
and have value where extensive root development is needed, such as in bioremediation
of polluted soils or in very windy, limited soil moisture situations.
From an environmental viewpoint, the researchers said, dwarfed trees such as this
are unlikely to be any kind of threat to spread, because they would compete very
poorly with normal or wild trees. In virtually all tree species, low height is
a disadvantage as trees compete for sunshine. Another possible value, from that
perspective, is that this trait might be used to help control the spread of exotic
and potentially invasive trees that are commonly sold by nurseries.
The initial studies were done with poplar, Strauss said. Similar results should
be possible in any tree species, but are limited by the lack of research into
gene transfer methods for most ornamental and forest trees. However, usable methods
are already available for sweet gum, elm, black locust and pines. The current
successful modification with poplar could be just “the tip of the iceberg,” the
researchers said in their report.
Dwarf trees and crop plants created with traditional cross-breeding or horticultural
techniques are already widely used in fruit trees, the ornamental tree industry
and agriculture.
The advances for cereals have been part of the “Green Revolution,” in which plants
such as rice or wheat were created that directed less energy to height growth
and more to development of stout stems and plentiful seed. In orchards, semi-dwarf
fruit trees produce more fruit that is easier to harvest. The improvements in
cereal yields have been credited with preventing the starvation of millions.
###
The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
A digital photo to illustrate this story, showing genetically modified trees of
the same age but very different heights, can be obtained from the web site of
OSU News and Communication Services, at http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ncs/photos.html
Contact: Steven Strauss
steve.strauss@oregonstate.edu
Oregon State University
Source: EurekAlert.org
18 June 2007
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1.22 Discovery of what makes some cauliflower
orange could lead to more nutritious staple crops
By Krishna Ramanujan
While orange cauliflower may seem unappealing to some, it has distinct nutritional
advantages. Now, Cornell University researchers have identified the genetic mutation
behind the unusual hue. The finding may lead to more nutritious staple crops,
including maize, potato, rice, sorghum and wheat.
The genetic mutation recently isolated by Cornell plant geneticist Li Li and colleagues
-- and described in the December issue of the journal Plant Cell -- allows the
vegetable to hold more beta-carotene, which causes the orange color and is a precursor
to the essential nutrient vitamin A. While cauliflower and many staple crops have
the ability to synthesize beta-carotene, they are limited partially because they
lack a "metabolic sink," or a place to store the compound.
Developing staple crops with more vitamin A is important because vitamin A deficiency,
common in developing countries, leads to compromised immune systems and is the
leading cause of blindness in children.
"A large percentage of the human population depends on staple crops for nutrition,"
said Li, an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Plant Breeding and
Genetics and a scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- Agricultural
Research Service's U.S. Plant, Soil and Nutrition Laboratory at Cornell. "The
research provides a possible new technique for genetically modifying staple crops
to increase their ability to store beta-carotene and increase nutritional content
in staple crops."
Other researchers have created "golden rice" by inserting several genes that increases
the synthesis of beta-carotene. But this technique has proved less effective in
many plants. Li's research, which increases a plant's ability to store beta-carotene,
may offer an alternate and complementary technique for making staple crops more
nutritious.
Li, in collaboration with Joyce Van Eck from the Boyce Thompson Institute for
Plant Research at Cornell, is currently working on transgenic potatoes, altering
genes to increase both the metabolic sink and beta-carotene synthesis.
Orange cauliflower was first discovered in a farmer's white cauliflower field
in Canada about 30 years ago and is now available at supermarkets
Search Chronicle
Online
Source: ChronicleOnline via EurekAlert.org
June 1, 2007
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1.23 Bt tomato with CRY6A found to
be resistant to root-knot nematodes
Transgenic tomato plants expressing modified Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cry6A
genes were found to have increased resistance to the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne
incognita. This is the first time that a Bt Cry protein was demonstrated to confer
plant resistance to an endoparasitic nematode, and that Cry proteins are reported
to have the potential to control plant-parasitic nematodes in transgenic plants.
Researchers at the University of California tested two cry6A genes –
one was modified not to have codons (sets of three DNA bases that code for an
amino acid) uncommon in plants, and the other altered to include only optimal
codons for each amino acid based on studies in Arabidopsis. The researchers report
that there was a fourfold decrease in progeny production of the nematode pest
brought about by cry6A expression in the plants. They recommend that cry6A be
‘stacked’ in crop varieties with other nematode-resistant traits.
The paper, published by the Plant
Biotechnology Journal, can be accessed at
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-7652.2007.00257.x
.
Source: CropBiotech Update via SeedQuest.com
June 2007
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1.24 Rice with human proteins to take root in Kansas
Pharmed food crop approved for growth despite controversy
Emma Marris
Rice modified to express proteins often found in breast milk will be planted in
Kansas. The go-ahead for the planting came on 16 May from the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA).
It's certainly not the first crop designed to produce pharmaceutical proteins
given the go-ahead in the United States or elsewhere (see ' Turning
plants into protein factories'). But this is among the first food crops containing
genes that produce human proteins to gain approval for large-scale planting. Many
other pharmaceutical genetically-modified (GM) crops are grown indoors or in inedible
plants such as tobacco.
The rice strains, made by Ventria Bioscience in Sacramento, California, produce
lysozyme, lactoferrin and human serum albumin in their seeds. All three are commonly
found in breast milk. Lysozyme and lactoferrin are proteins with antibacterial,
viral and fungal properties, according to the company.
Ventria says that they aim to use the rice to create drinks that can combat diarrhoea,
and dietary supplements to help reverse anaemia 1.
Diarrhoea, which often stems from gastrointestinal infection, is a major killer
of children worldwide.
Many further regulatory hurdles involving other agencies would need to be passed
before products made from this rice could be sold to consumers.
Public comment
The crop, which has been tested in Peru, was given preliminary approval in
March, and the USDA then opened the proposal up for public comment. Of the more
than 20,000 comments they received, only 29 were positive, although many of the
negative comments consisted of form letters.
Published online: 18 May 2007; | doi:10.1038/news070514-17
Contributed by Elcio Gumaraes
Elcio.Guimaraes@fao.org
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1.25 Plants recognize their siblings,
biologists discover
HAMILTON, ON. The next time you venture into your garden armed with plants,
consider who you place next to whom. It turns out that the docile garden plant
isn’t as passive as widely assumed, at least not with strangers. Researchers at
McMaster University have found that plants get fiercely competitive when forced
to share their pot with strangers of the same species, but they’re accommodating
when potted with their siblings.
The study appears today in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.
“The ability to recognize and favour kin is common in animals, but this is the
first time it has been shown in plants” said Susan Dudley, associate professor
of biology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. “When plants share their
pots, they get competitive and start growing more roots, which allows them to
grab water and mineral nutrients before their neighbours get them. It appears,
though, that they only do this when sharing a pot with unrelated plants; when
they share a pot with family they don’t increase their root growth. Because differences
between groups of strangers and groups of siblings only occurred when they shared
a pot, the root interactions may provide a cue for kin recognition.”
Though they lack cognition and memory, the study shows plants are capable of complex
social behaviours such as altruism towards relatives, says Dudley. Like humans,
the most interesting behaviours occur beneath the surface.
Dudley and her student, Amanda File, observed the behavior in sea rocket (Cakile
edentula), a member of the mustard family native to beaches throughout North America,
including the Great Lakes.
So should gardeners arrange their plants like they would plan the seating at a
dinner party"
“Gardeners have known for a long time that some pairs of species get along better
than others, and scientists are starting to catch up with why that happens,” says
Dudley. “What I’ve found is that plants from the same mother may be more compatible
with each other than with plants of the same species that had different mothers.
The more we know about plants, the more complex their interactions seem to be,
so it may be as hard to predict the outcome as when you mix different people at
a party.”
###
The study was made possible by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada.
McMaster University, a world-renowned, research-intensive university, fosters
a culture of innovation, and a commitment to discovery and learning in teaching,
research and scholarship. Based in Hamilton, the University, one of only four
Canadian universities to be listed on the Top 100 universities in the world, has
a student population of more than 23,000, and an alumni population of more than
125,000 in 125 countries.
Contact: Susan Dudley
Associate Professor
McMaster University
sdudley@mcmaster.ca
Source: EurekAlert.org
13 June 2007
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1.26 Long-sought plant flowering signal unmasked, again
Elizabeth Pennisi
As elusive as the top quark, the signal that tells plants to flower has befuddled
plant biologists for more than a century with many false leads to its identity.
Two years ago, researchers created quite a stir with data indicating that this
signal was messenger RNA (mRNA) that traveled from the so-called flowering
locus T (FT) gene in plant leaves to the growth tip where flowering
takes place. But those authors are now retracting that finding (p. 367 ). Instead,
two new reports, published online by Science this week ( www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1141752
and www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1141753),
have fingered the FT protein itself.
"This is something we have been waiting for a long time," says J. A. D. Zeevaart,
an emeritus plant physiologist at Michigan State University in East Lansing. "These
two papers will be classics in the field for years to come," adds Philip Wigge,
a plant biologist at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, U.K. Others, however, think
the evidence is not yet conclusive. "They haven't taken the story any further,"
says William Lucas, a plant cell biologist at the University of California, Davis.
This story has its roots in a 1930s study by Russian plant physiologist Mikhail
Chailakhyan. Based on grafting experiments, Chailakhyan proposed that when leaves
sense the appropriate day length, they send a mobile signal called florigen to
the plant's growing tip to initiate flowering. But promising leads led to dead
ends, and "florigen [became] the pariah of botany, [akin to] Big Foot or intelligent
extraterrestrial life," says Brian Ayre, a plant biologist at the University of
North Texas in Denton.
In the past decade, researchers armed with molecular tools for manipulating genes
and visualizing proteins in live tissue have revived the quest. They pinned down
the FT gene, the leaf protein that turns FT on, and a flowering
gene that the FT protein controls. Then, in 2005, Tao Huang, a postdoc at the
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Umeå, and his colleagues proposed
that mRNA was the mobile signal in Arabidopsis, as they saw mRNA from FT
build up in both the leaf and the growing tip. They concluded that FT mRNA was
produced in the leaf and traveled to the growing tip, where it was translated
into the FT protein, which then kicked off flowering (Science, 9 September
2005, p. 1694).
This report seemed "an enormously exciting breakthrough," recalls Colin Turnbull,
a plant biologist at Imperial College in Wye, U.K.
But it has not held up. In the 18 April 2006 Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences, Eliezer Lifschitz of Technion Israel Institute of Technology
in Haifa reported no sign of mRNA from the FT-equivalent gene in the flowering
shoots of tomatoes. And in their retraction notice, Huang's collaborators report
that their initial analysis excluded some data and gave extra weight to other
data. When they redid the experiments, "we could not detect movement of the transgenic
FT mRNA," says Ove Nillson, in whose lab Huang did this work. Huang, now at Xiamen
University in China, has not agreed to the retraction.
Turnbull and George Coupland of the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research
in Cologne, Germany, working with Arabidopsis, and another team studying
rice, have now proposed that the mobile signal is the FT protein itself rather
than mRNA.
In rice, the equivalent of the FT gene is called Hd3a. Ko Shimamoto
of the Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Japan, his student Shojiro
Tamaki, and their colleagues first measured Hd3a mRNA in various tissues. They
found that in rice grown with short days (rice requires short days to develop
flowers), the mRNA increased in leaves but was present only in very low amounts
in the shoot apical meristem, the growing tip. Next, they made a transgenic rice
strain by joining the gene for green fluorescent protein (GFP) with that for Hd3a,
which made any Hd3a protein visible under a confocal laser scanning microscope.
They saw the protein in the vascular tissue of the leaf and the upper stem as
well as in the core of the growing tip.
They then attached promoters to the combination GFP/Hd3a gene that caused
the genes to turn on in the leaf but not in the growing tip. Flowering still occurred,
they report. "The only way [FT] could get there was if it moved," explains Zeevaart.
Like Shimamoto, Coupland and Turnbull focused on the FT protein and used GFP to
track its fate, this time in Arabidopsis. Laurent Corbesier, a postdoc
in Coupland's lab, added the fused FT/GFP gene to a mutant Arabidopsis
strain that lacked the FT gene. They observed the protein first in the
vascular tissue of the stem, and 4 days later, at the base of the growing tip.
In another experiment, the team grafted plants carrying the fused gene to mutant
plants that could not make FT at all. The FT/GFP protein, but no mRNA, moved across
the graft junction and through the mutant plant, they report.
Finally, when they attached two GFP genes to the FT gene, the resulting
protein was too big to travel beyond the leaf--and in those plants, no flowers
formed. Thus, the researchers could rule out both RNA and the existence of a signal
activated by FT.
"The evidence is convincing, especially the grafting experiments," says Ayre.
And, strengthening the case, several other researchers are preparing to publish
similar results.
But not everyone agrees. Lifschitz calls the evidence in both reports "circumstantial."
He, Nilsson, and Miguel Blázquez of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain,
point out that neither group tested whether GFP moves through the plant on its
own accord. And Lucas doesn't think the authors adequately demonstrated that FT
gets into the growing tip from the leaf. For example, in Arabidopsis, one
leaf promoter used turns on genes elsewhere in the plant, so it could have turned
on FT outside the leaf, Lucas points out. Even Ayre is still cautious.
"Florigen has a long history of disappointing people," he says. "We're getting
there, but the race is intense, and we need to keep cool heads."
Source: Science 20 April 2007:
Vol. 316. no. 5823, pp. 350 - 351
DOI: 10.1126/science.316.5823.350
Contributed by Elcio Gumaraes
Elcio.Guimaraes@fao.org
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1.27 Finding genes faster
Mexico
A CIMMYT research group in China has developed a better way to identify the locations
of genes that contribute to quantitative traits important for breeding. It could
open the way to improved crops faster for the world’s rural poor.
It’s not easy to make the connection between resource-poor farmers of the developing
world and “biometricians,” as biological statisticians are known. But a new statistical
methodology developed by CIMMYT and published in one of the world’s most prestigious
scientific journals may help plant breeders to work more efficiently andmore
importantlyto breed better crops for those farmers.
Science, art, and quantitative traits
Traditional crop breeding has been regarded almost as much as an art as a
science. This is because breeders use their long, accumulated (and largely undocumented)
experience to select parental plants most likely to give offspring the desired
traits. But the process can be hit and miss and take many years and much expense.
This is partly because breeders select simultaneously for many key traitsyield
potential, disease resistance, drought tolerance, to name a few. Under those circumstance,
and lacking scientific methods to choose precisely the right parental plants and
progeny based on their actual genetic makeup, breeders must try to cover all bases
by planting many crosses among many parents and evaluating physiological traits,
either visually, through chemical analyses, or by measuring plant performance
in the field.
Biotechnology has long promised to facilitate breeders’ work, specifically through
methods that provide breeders with information about the crop genes associated
with physiological traits of importance. That has worked fairly well to date for
simple traitssay, resistance to a particular pathogen, when such resistance
is governed by only one or two genes in the plant. But, as it turns out, simply-governed
traits are also generally easy for breeders to select for and improve in their
plots. What they really need help on are the traits that have a more complex genetic
basis, such as yield potential or drought tolerance, because those traits are
governed by multiple genes or because the associated genes may express themselves
in many ways, depending on the environment in which the plant is grown. These
are known as “quantitative traits,” and the classical Mendelian rules of inheritance,
which constitute the basis of modern genetics, simply do not apply very well to
them. “The fact is, after 20 years of work, breeders and molecular geneticists
are still struggling with quantitative traits,” says Jonathan
Crouch, Director of Genetic Resources Enhancement at CIMMYT.
Locating the genome regions that really count
Genetic researchers seek out segments of a plant’s DNA that are associated
with quantitative traits; areas where there may be one important gene or a concentration
of several genes that contribute to physiological traits of interest. These segments
are called quantitative trait loci (QTL). Identifying QTL by a molecular signature
in the DNA has been an important goal over the last two decades, to help breeders
more accurately select plants likely to have the genes for desirable traits.
The most commonly used technique to identify QTL is called composite interval
mapping (CIM), but it has not proven as efficient or effective a methodology as
breeders had hoped. That is where CIMMYT quantitative geneticist Jiankang Wang,
along with colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS),
have stepped in. In a recent paper published in the journal “Genetics”, they presented
details of a way to vastly improve the CIM technique. “The newly-developed QTL
mapping method and software will help breeders use genetic data from CGIAR centers
and national agricultural research systems to mine novel genes, acquire more complete
genetic knowledge for quantitative traits of interest, and conduct efficient genotypic
selection,” says Wang. “Farmers will benefit from having higher yielding, more
disease resistant, and more drought tolerant rice, maize, and wheat varieties
with better grain quality.” He says the improved technique, which was tested extensively
through computer simulations, outperforms CIM in accuracy and speed. This is good
news to plant breeders, for whom the promise of modern genetic technologies to
enhance breeding for quantitative traits has taken a long time to be fulfilled.
In fact, the CIMMYT team has written a special computer program that plant genetics
specialists anywhere in the world can download and use to apply their new technique
( http://www.isbreeding.net/software.html).
The Crop Research Informatics Laboratory (CRIL), one of the joint programs between
CIMMYT and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), will be one of the
first facilities in the world to use the new tool. For breeders and geneticists
at CIMMYT, the real impact of the effectiveness of the new techniques will come
when seeds of better crops are in the hands of the farmers who need them most.
Source: CIMMYT E-News, vol 4 no. 5, May
2007 via SeedQuest.com
1 June 2007
Contributed by Rodomiro Ortiz
R.ORTIZ@CGIAR.ORG
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1.28 Modified mushrooms may yield human
drugs
Mushrooms might serve as biofactories for the production of various beneficial
human drugs, according to plant pathologists who have inserted new genes into
mushrooms.
"There has always been a recognized potential of the mushroom as being a choice
platform for the mass production of commercially valuable proteins," said Charles
Peter Romaine, who holds the John B. Swayne Chair in spawn science and professor
of plant pathology at Penn State. "Mushrooms could make the ideal vehicle for
the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals to treat a broad array of human illnesses.
But nobody has been able to come up with a feasible way of doing that."
Dr. Romaine and his colleague, Xi Chen, then a post-doctoral scholar at Penn State
and now a Syngenta Biotechnology Inc. research scientist, have developed a technique
to genetically modify Agaricus bisporus -- the button variety of mushroom, which
is the predominant edible species worldwide. One application of their technology
is the use of transgenic mushrooms as factories for producing therapeutic proteins,
such as vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and hormones like insulin, or commercial
enzymes, such as cellulase for biofuels.
"Right now medical treatment exists for about 500 diseases and genetic disorders,
but thanks to the human genome project, before long, new drugs will be available
for thousands of other diseases," Dr. Romaine said. "We need a new way of mass-producing
protein-based drugs, which is economical, safe, and fast. We believe mushrooms
are going to be the platform of the future."
To create transgenic mushrooms, researchers attached a gene that confers resistance
to hygromycin, an antibiotic, to circular pieces of bacterial DNA called plasmids,
which have the ability to multiply within a bacterium known as Agrobacterium.
The hygromycin resistance gene is a marker gene to help sort out the transgenic
mushroom cells from the non-transgenic cells, Dr. Romaine explained. "What we
are doing is taking a gene, as for example a drug gene, that is not part of the
mushroom, and camouflaging it with regulatory elements from a mushroom gene. We
then patch these genetic elements in the plasmid and insert it back into the bacterium,"
he added.
The researchers then snipped small pieces off the mushroom's gill tissue and added
it to a flask containing the altered bacterium.
Over the course of several days, as the bacterium goes through its lifecycle,
it transfers a portion of its plasmid out of its cell right into the mushroom
cell, and integrates the introduced gene into the chromosome of the mushroom.
Next, the researchers exposed the mushroom cells to hygromycin. The antibiotic
kills all the normal cells, separating out those that have been genetically altered
for resistance.
The test demonstrates that if a second gene, insulin for example, were to be patched
in the plasmid, that gene would be expressed as well.
"There is a high probability that if the mushroom cell has the hygromycin resistance
gene, it will also have the partner gene," Dr. Romaine added.
The degree of gene expression ultimately depends on where exactly the imported
gene lands in the mushroom chromosome, among a complexity of other factors, but
researchers point out that the process of producing biopharmaceuticals is potentially
faster and cheaper with mushrooms than conventional technologies. Unlike plants
that have long growth cycles, "with mushrooms, we can use commercial technology
to convert the vegetative tissue from mushroom strains stored in the freezer into
vegetative seed. A crop from which drugs may be extracted could be ready in weeks,"
Dr. Romaine said. A mushroom-based biofactory also would not require expensive
infrastructure set up by major drug companies, he added.
###
The technology is patented by Penn State and Agarigen, Inc. has an exclusive license
to develop the technology. Dr. Romaine is a co-founder of the company.
Contact: Amitabh Avasthi
axa47@psu.edu
Penn State
Source: EurekAlert.org
22 June 2007
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1.29 Update 5-2007 of FAO-BiotechNews
(Selected articles by the Editor, Plant Breeding News)
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) E-mail address:
mailto:FAO-Biotech-News@fao.org FAO
website http://www.fao.org FAO Biotechnology
website http://www.fao.org/biotech/index.asp
(in Arabic, Chinese, English, French and Spanish)
1) Marker-assisted selection in crops, livestock, forestry and fish The FAO Working
Group on Biotechnology has just published "Marker-assisted selection: Current
status and future perspectives in crops, livestock, forestry and fish", edited
by E.P. Guimarces, J. Ruane, B.D. Scherf, A. Sonnino and J.D. Dargie. (see PUBLICATIONS
section for further details).
2) Launch of FAO-BiotechNews-Cn FAO is happy to announce the launching of FAO-BiotechNews-Cn,
an e-mail newsletter providing updates of news and event items in Chinese that
are relevant to applications of biotechnology in food and agriculture in developing
countries. It is the Chinese version of the English-language newsletter FAO-BiotechNews.
The main focus of its news and event items is on the activities of